Solomon Islands stages first election since end of peacekeeping intervention

November 19, 2014 3:20 AM

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SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Solomon Islands went to the polls on Wednesday in the first election since an Australian-led peacekeeping intervention ended in 2013, with officials hoping biometric voter registration will end endemic voter fraud in the South Pacific island nation.

The Solomons has been racked by instability since 1998, culminating in widespread ethnic violence and the deployment of a peacekeeping force in 2003. The peacekeeping intervention lasted a decade before being scaled back to a policing mission.